Environment committee  When the government added greenhouse gases to that schedule of the Act last November, it clearly intended to specifically regulate the large emitters of greenhouse gases, which are responsible for almost 50% of all greenhouse gas emissions produced here in Canada. Based on all the scientific evidence, we know that drastic cuts to greenhouse gas emissions are urgently needed.

Environment committee  Thank you. I'd like to make clear, at the beginning, that there is very clear and abundant evidence, underpinned by a strong scientific consensus, that greenhouse gases meet all three criteria for toxic substances as defined by CEPA. The professional climate science community--and that is to say, the people who publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals--is virtually unanimous that greenhouse gases from human activities are now a dominant cause of the very rapid global warming observed in the past half century, and that these emissions will cause far greater warming over the course of this century unless dramatic reductions are achieved in emissions.